The call of the sea
by KaizokuHimexxx
Summary: A romantic Shanks/OC story.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N Yo! Had a Shanks story in my head for a while, thanks for reading and let me know what you think!**

 _'Has she remembered me?'_

 _'After all this time…'_

 _'Two long years?'_

Shanks stretched out in his hammock with a contented smile, dangling his legs, one over each side, of his swaying bed. His fingers played with the precious jewel hanging from a chain around his neck, it had become a self conscious act, often he would toy with the gift and think of her, drift off to remember the first time they met and feel the very same butterflies fluttering in his stomach. Every second of each night they had spent together was etched in his memory, he would call upon them whenever he felt disheartened and just like magic he was back there sitting at the docks, hand in hand, with the most beautiful woman in the world.

"You not going to sleep, Captain?" His first mate Ben's words found him and lured him back from the dreamy state that had engulfed him.

"Can't." Captain Shanks replied with an excited grin, grasping his amber trinket tightly. Ben rolled his eyes but couldn't help but feel happy for his friend, he hadn't seen him so alive in a while, from the moment he caught a glimpse of the lady that afternoon his face had been lit up like a lighthouse. If she hadn't been accompanied by her father, the governor, no doubt he would have dashed to her side already. Out of respect, the red haired Captain was patiently waiting for his moment.

On the Island Pirates weren't openly welcomed but they were definitely allowed to moor and spend their hard earned, or robbed, beli around the numerous Inns, taverns and shops. The Governor distanced himself from piracy but allowed criminals to roam free on his land for the sake of the gold. Because he couldn't officially condone the pirates he made sure that his daughter maintained the same attitude aswell and rarely let her leave the protection of their manor house alone…or so he thought.

She wasn't like her old man, she was naturally inquisitive. She sought out trouble instead of shying away from it, the pirates, sailors and merchants that visited fascinated her. The kind of stories she had heard from back alley taverns would stay with her forever. But how did she manage to indulge in the night life when it was forbidden? Donning a hooded clock and plain, male attire she could easily blend in among them after escaping her prison. No one ever knew who she was, that is until she met Shanks.

When the moon was at its fullest among a night sky of charcoal black and the glitter of a thousand stars, Shanks headed out. Leaving his ship in the reliable hands of his crew, he made his way through the busiest part of town. Avoiding brawlers and dodging vomiting passers by he went from Inn to Inn, tavern to tavern until finally he spotted her, perched on a bench outside of 'The broken vase' listening intently with huge eyes of wonder to a femal pirate bragging about her recent conquest. He just wanted to sprint to her side and throw his strong arms around her dainty body but he remembered only too well that she was always armed. It wasn't like he could just call out her name either, he didn't want to get her in trouble! So, he settled on something inbetween, creeping up to her like a randy predator whilst whistling to draw her attention. The female pirate spun round first, pistol at the ready. She wasn't as intoxicated as Shanks had thought.

"Woah! Woah! I just wanted to talk to your friend!" Shanks cried out in frustration, abandoning his stupid plan.

"Shanks!" She shrieked, spotting him aswell, her voice was the same, one that enchanted and comforted him at the same time. She was so excited that she ran to him, her hood blowing off in the process and her mass of thick black hair began to billow around her face, covering her blue eyes like a blindfold. She couldn't see a thing but was so excited that she just continued to run until she was in his arms.

"You remembered me after all, then, Bluebell?" he chuckled as she almost knocked him to the ground.

"Just about." She coughed, regaining her ladylike composure. As the wind blew fiercely around them, battering their clothes and tangling their hair, they stared at one another. They shared a similar lovestruck, doe-eyed look until Bluebell's face started to crinkle. Her smile was replaced by a pout and her eyebrows narrowed into a furious frown, the moment of relief had passed, she was no longer overcome by happiness to see him alive.

"Wh-what?" He asked, slightly concerned for his own safety. Not every part of their time together had been beautiful, the goodbye had been so sour that Shanks still grieved over it. He had been cold, ruthless. 'See ya', was all he had said. Possibly the worst chose of words since the human race started communicating verbally but, on the spot, he hadn't known what else to offer her. Promising a time to come back would have been a lie no matter how happy it made her, expressing his true feelings would have been just as painful for her too. They had shared several kisses but always maintained the pretence of just being friends, a man of the sea couldn't offer anything more to a land dweller and keep a clear conscious.

Bluebell surrendered. The discomfort spread across Shanks' usually cheerful face was too much to bare. After all the kisses were probably drunken ones, she had thought too much into them and come to the wrong conclusion. Friends, nothing more.

"Sorry. I'm glad you're alright, we don't get much news come our way so…" Feeling herself getting a little emotional she decided to abruptly change the subject, "How about a drink?"

"Thought you'd never ask!" He beemed, following her inside the bustling tavern eagerly.

Just like old times he talked and she listened, increasingly fascinated by one tale after the next. He was so passionate about his life that she could have watched him speak all night without even hearing a word, his eyes sparkled and he used his entire body to help tell his stories. At times she could have shed a tear for the horrible things he'd seen and then he would have her bawling with laughter!

Somehow a cosy little table had become free just as they entered, a rare thing indeed in a packed tavern full off drunk, sleepy pirates. Perfect. Shanks had pulled her chair out for her first before dragging his up against it. If he didn't get close enough she never would be able to hear him over the noise of rowdy drunks…at least that's what he told himself.

"So, what about you, Missy?" He asked smoothly, eyeing his date over the rim of his mug of sakě. There was only one thing that he really wanted to know.

She brushed her hair aside as she too took a swig from her own drink. Shanks' eyes instantly stuck onto the soft curve of her neck that she had just revealed, only when she began to talk could he force his eyes away from her naked pearl white flesh.

"I've been doing nothing nearly as exciting as you have, Shanks!" She exclaimed, uneasily avoiding his gaze for a few seconds. Her honesty had almost lapsed but she couldn't quite bring herself to outright lie to him. He had seriously warned her about venturing out so much alone, something she'd been doing much more of since her father had become so keen on marrying her off. For a Governor his intentions were good, he wanted to use a marriage to build a bond with another island to make his own more prosperous but for a father it was selfish.

"You don't have to tell me, Blue. As long as your being careful."

She nodded, her eyes glued to her shoes. All sorts of men had been through in the past couple of years and she had mixed with every last one of them, from the sleeziest seafarers to the physcotic pirates that struck fear into others. Some had taken a fancy to her, offering her beli for company or inviting her on voyages. She never accepted, though if it had been Shanks offering to whisk her away she would have accepted in a heartbeat.

A frown forced its way onto Shanks' face. He was worried about her, her thirst for adventure was far more powerful than her common sense. She hadn't experienced the world like he had and she was still young, eighteen, possibly nineteen when she frowned.

"How is your father?" He questioned, apparently changing the subject. He'd never met the man and didn't wish to, if ever Shanks did have the misfortune he knew that he wouldn't be able to hold his tongue, he would have to tell him that his beautiful daughter wasn't supposed to be living as a caged bird just because she was female. There was so much more to her than anyone knew.

"He's well…still hates pirates, though. He likes the profit you bring but nothing more. I've tried so desperately to change his mind but he's so set in his ways that he won't listen to a word I say."

Shanks' leaned in closer, resting his leg against hers, his eyebrows raised into the fiery red strands that sat on his forehead.

"And what do you say to him to change his mind?"

Blushing, she replied, "I tell him that the word pirate doesn't define a man, that some of them are good people…like you." Whilst she was speaking her hair had fell about her face again, she let it be in hope that it would cover her redenned cheeks. Shanks tucked the rebellious strands away and put his lips against her ear so that his warm breath tickled her.

"I'm not all good." Bluebell's stomach did a flip as his mischievous words trickled into her ear and her body shuddered with excitement.

"Shanks." She breathed, allowing her body to sink back into his. Her head began to swim with a mixture of alcohol and emotion, her eyes fluttered closed and she fell asleep in the Captain's arms.


	2. Chapter 2

As shameful as it was, Bluebell slept in till noon dreaming of her favourite pirate captain, of the adventures they often shared in her land of make believe and of the grand home on land they would finally settle in to have children. She awoke to the strangest smell but with a smile on her face nonetheless. Flaring her nostrils, she inhaled the odd odour. It smelt somewhat related to when cook burnt the dinner but it was that much stronger that it burnt her nostrils...almost like a fire. The smile vanished from her face in an instant and she was up out of bed and pulling yesterday's clothes on(that hadn't quite made it into the dirty laundry).

Her worse fears were true, there indeed was a fire but not at a bakery or blacksmiths like she suspected, it was her own house. With the curtains flung open, she recognised the sight of grey smoke shrouding her home like an impenetrable fog.

"Father!" She cried, pulling at the door handle to no avail, it was stuck tight, she was locked in!

Her bedroom was on the third floor, escaping through the window would surely be suicide but after ten minutes of hammering on the door with her fists she couldn't see any other option. If the fire had started downstairs, perhaps her father had passed out from smoke inhalation already. She had to hurry, if that was the case and he truly was unconscious, a man on his late fifties wouldn't survive long.

It was a straight drop down from her window to the gardens, a fall that would undoubtedly paralyse, if not kill her, if she were simply to drop straight down. Looking around her bedroom, her mind raced. Mattress? Too big for the windows. Pillows? Wouldn't cushion the fall enough. She scolded herself for not having a rope handy in her bedroom for such an emergency, it would have been a perfect means of escape. The floor beneath her bare feet was definitely getting hotter, even through the plushest carpet money could buy!

Suddenly one of the windows shattered, tiny pieces of glass exploded across the room. Bluebell made an attempt to cover her face but some of the shards were already embedded in her cheeks and forehead. She stumbled towards the door, it was the thing she could make out through her blurred vision. Breathing had become very difficult, her head felt too heavy to lift as well so she lay flat on the burning hot, plush carpet that had cost her father a fortune, just to rest for a moment. Escaping was no longer a priority, in that smoke filled pink bedroom, the beckoning of eternal slumber was too hard to ignore.

Once her eyes were firmly closed, a dream of Shanks began to play out in her mind. It was both surreal and vivid at the same time, she could not see him but she knew that he was carrying her in his arms, he was silent but all around them people were shouting and screaming and crying for help. Bluebell tried with all her might to look around at the faces begging for assistance but try as she might, her body wouldn't respond. She couldn't aid the people that she had known from birth, the townsfolk that depended on her and her father to keep them safe. She was helpless, she couldn't even move a finger.

"Stay with me, Blue." Shanks' voice managed to reach her and finally, after several days at sea, Bluebell opened her eyes and stared straight at him. There was a flicker of fondness in her gaze but what really showed was the confusion, she clearly had no idea where she was or what was going on and he didn't blame her. At times the red-haired captain wasn't sure if she would even pull through. After rescuing her from the burning governor's house and getting her breathing again, the first thing Shanks did was bundle her onto his ship. He knew for a fact there was no doctor on that island, he'd watched him get gunned down with his own eyes. The neighbouring island looked just as chaotic, Yasopp gave him his word on that from the crows nest as they sailed by at a safe distance. Any other forms of civilisation were miles away, so the red-haired pirates had been doing their best to care for the young lady the best they could.

Carefully, Shanks removed the small damp cloth from her forehead, lying it over the rim of a bowl of cool fresh water. Bluebell followed the palm of his hand with puzzled eyes as it hovered above her face before landing gently on her forehead.

"You're cooling down, brilliant! Do you think you can eat something?" Bluebell couldn't find her voice to reply, she was in complete shock, unsure if she was dead or alive, awake or dreaming. If Shanks hadn't been by her side she probably would've cried and cried until every last tear had been shed and she was numb again. She gestured for a glass of water and Shanks immediately flew out of the door to retrieve one for her, overjoyed that she was progressing. He was only gone for a matter of seconds but when he returned Bluebell had fallen back asleep. Shanks decided not to wake her, after all the best place for her to be was the land of dreams when her life had been so cruelly ripped apart.

A few nights after first regaining consciousness Bluebell managed to sip her way through a bowl of sea food soup, made by lucky roux, and had spent the day resting in bed just as Shanks had playfully ordered. The Captain himself hadn't made much of an appearance, Bluebell accepted that he must have been busy but it didn't stop her missing his company.

"So?" Ben Buckman began, turning to his oddly quiet Captain. Most of the crew had turned in for the night, the weather was fair and the ship was on course, the perfect time for a little shut eye. Shanks was at the helm, leaning sloppily on the apparatus, when Ben had joined him.

"What?" Shanks replied, sounding more like a stroppy child then a pirate captain. His first mate knew exactly what was troubling him, after so many years as comrades he could read him like an open book.

"What are we going to do with Bluebell? We should hit land tomorrow."

"I don't know." The Captain sighed heavily, removed his straw hat and examined it for a minute before plopping it back onto his mess of rebellious red hair. He had been contemplating the same question himself over and over without finding an answer. On the rare occasions that Blue had downed a bit too much grog, she had shared personal information that perhaps she wouldn't have usually done so with anyone else. Her mother had died during child birth, Grandparents lost to illness. With her father gone as well, she had no family left in the world. Was it the right thing to leave her alone on another island to start a fresh?

"Has she asked to go back to land?" Ben ventured a dangerous question. He knew that when it came to Bluebell, Shanks was quite secretive.

"Well...no but we haven't really talked about it."

"Maybe she can stay on board with us then?" Ben wondered aloud, picturing life with a woman on board the ship to be quite good fun. Suddenly his Captain fell to his knees, dramatically clutching his head in his hands and chanting the word 'no'. Ben didn't know whether to show concern or laugh but as it turned out, it was the latter that rumbled across the ship.

"Captain..." he chuckled, wiping a tear from his eye.

"Don't put ideas like that in my head! I'm trying to focus on doing what's right for her. Don't you think that would be like a dream come true for me?"

Bluebell covered her mouth to muffle the gasp that was escaping, from the bedroom she could hear every word. Shanks wanted her to stay! Instead of apprehension, the idea filled her with delight! She would be able to live a life of adventure as she had always wanted and best of all, she could spend it alongside Shanks every single day!


End file.
